Chapter 21: Consequences

The Momentum Reactor hummed silently in the background as Kako paced back and forth in front of it. A cage swung above it, the chain securing it to the roof above creaked and groaned with each swing. Three figures waited in the cage - one with an angry, determined look, one sitting at the bottom of the cage crying, and holding the other, a small infant crying loudly.

Jason looked cross, "You can't keep us in here! My Daddy will come and rescue us!"

Kako ignored him. Whether Jack came to rescue them or not was none of his concern. He just continued to pace back and forth, his hands folded behind his back.

"Kako."

Kako jumped and whirled around. He recognized that soft, ethereal, feminine voice. His eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here, Mirai?"

A woman stepped out of the shadows, her entire body was cloaked in the same Ylliaster cloak everyone in the group wore, her hood pulled far over her face so Kako could see nothing but her lower jaw, tapering in to a delicate little chin. She was small, and her frame thin, but she stood there with a sense of power and dignity, like someone who is out to conquer the world.

"I just came to see this train wreck your setting up." She said calmly, her voice toneless - yet proud.

"Train wreck?" Kako's eye twitched, "I have everything perfectly under control."

A small smile stretched across her pale lips, "Too bad you don't have yourself under control."

"What are you doing here?" Kako repeated, "Did Zone send you?"

With a flick of her wrist, a whip appeared out of nowhere and soared out towards Kako, wrapped tightly around his wrist. His face contorted in pain, which caused her to smile. She stood there for a second, apparently deciding whether or not to break his wrist. "Zone is not impressed, and he will come and kill you… so I took measures to stop that."

"Stop what?" Kako asked, looking nervously down at the whip tied tightly around him,

"Zone of course." She started circling around him, pulling the whip to make him circle with her, "I am enjoying how you toy with these…commoners. And I would hate to see Zone stop all the fun." She licked her lips, "You know how I find pain…arousing."

"Stop Zone?" Kako asked, feeling slightly dizzy,

"You haven't turned in that DNA yet." Mirai said matter-of-factly, "I'm here to make sure it does not get turned in."

"…but without that DNA…" Kako replied thoughtfully, he suddenly snapped to attention, "Zone would never exist!" A wicked smile stretched across Mirai's face in response. Kako frowned again, "But he would probably kill you before you get the chance?"

Mirai shrugged, "Nonsense."

She gave a sharp tug on the whip, and there was the sound of several bones breaking in Kako's hand and wrist. He screamed out in agony and fell to his knees. Mirai let out a groan in pleasure, before pulling the whip back to her. She grabbed the blood-stained end and licked it, "You and I both know you're playing with the wrong time."

"We've been over this before Mirai…with Paradox." Kako snapped, "Paradox tried further back in the past, and it did not work either."

"Paradox did not take care of the others." Mirai pointed out, "He let them all group up to team up against him."

Kako whimpered, rubbing his broken wrist.

"Which is why I am here to watch." She said in a sing-song voice,

"Why don't you just get the DNA and leave?" Kako whined.

Mirai laughed and stepped back into the shadows, "Because silly! Seeing people in pain is orgasmic to me. I want to see more! The way you handle these commoners is like my ecstasy. I want to see how this all plays out. I want to see those kids die."

Jaclyn cried out as she heard Mirai mention their death, and clenched the baby tighter. Mirai laughed out at her cry.

"I'll be watching from the shadows, Kako… and I will be ready to take over when you fail."

Kako frowned as she disappeared. He was not going to fail! There was no way he was going to fail! She was just… delusional!

He stood up, still clenching his wrist. Yes… he would show Mirai that killing Yusei would solve all their problems! Even if it killed himself!

… … …

Ruka heard the sound of D-Wheels roaring in the distance, and the sound of sirens blaring through the night. She turned around from where she was standing and faced Aki and Yusei. "Security is coming!"

"Yusei… we have to go… now!" Aki cried, putting her arms around Yusei's shoulders.

Yusei shook his head, "What's the point? Its either end up back in jail again… or let Kako kill me."

Ruka suddenly looked cross, "You heard what Papa said! He believes in you, Yusei!"

Yusei looked up at her, but did not say anything.

Ruka took a deep breath, "Papa believes that you can defeat Kako! Now you only have to believe in yourself."

Aki nodded, "And you can't defeat Kako from jail."

Yusei hung his head, "If Dad couldn't defeat Kako… then what chance do I have?"

Aki walked up to him, a cross look on her face. She looked down at him and raised her hand in the air as if she was going to slap him. Yusei flinched and closed his eyes, but instead of feeling her hand whipping across his face, he felt her arms around him. He opened his eyes and saw her hugging him, her head buried deep in his shoulder and her arms wrapped tightly around him. He cried and automatically hugged her back.

"I believe in you, Yusei." She whispered, "I know you can do it. You're the Legendary Hero, the Shooting Star of the Satellite, the King of Duellists…"

"Aki…" Yusei whispered, but could not muster up anymore words.

"There was once a time… I loved you, Yusei." Aki cried, "You saved me from a life of hatred, and when we kissed good-bye…it was the hardest thing I ever had to do."

Yusei looked confused, "But… why me? Why does everyone seem to understand something I don't?"

"Maybe you will understand again." Aki promised, releasing him just far enough so she could look him in the eyes, "But in till then, you have to become the strong, dependable man you once were to defeat Kako."

Yusei did not look convinced, but stared her in the eyes. Aki swore, and then leaned in and kissed him, straight on the lips. She closed her eyes so she could not see Yusei's reaction, but Ruka saw the shocked look fade and he closed his own eyes.

"Um… guys…" Ruka warned.

Aki stood up, and pulled Yusei up with her, "Come on! We've got to run!"

Yusei nodded, with a dazed and confused expression on his face, "We can take some of the D-Wheels from the shop."

Aki agreed, and the three ran into the Duel Shop. The sirens were getting closer…

Yusei led the way downstairs and into the garage. "Take whichever one you want."

Aki headed for a red one, and Ruka climbed on the back of it, while Yusei grabbed a blue one sitting next to it. He hit a button and the garage door opened up.

"Ready to step on it?" Yusei asked,

"Don't you mean, 'Its time to Rev it Up'?" Aki joked.

"What?" Yusei asked,

"…never mind." Aki sighed.

Yusei shrugged and stepped on the gas, sending the blue D-Wheel roaring up the ramp, and outside, Aki and Ruka soared after him.

Yusei reached the top of the ramp and saw several Security D-Wheels already there.

"We have you surrounded! Pull over immediately!" They demanded.

Yusei swore and looked back at Aki, "Follow me! Quick!" He revved the engine, and took off, racing away from the Security Officers - Aki right behind him. Within a couple of minutes, more Security Officers followed suit, and they had a miniature army chasing them.

Ruka looked back and swore. There was too many of them, and they were gaining fast… there was no way they could outrun them all. "Aki." She said tonelessly,

Aki looked back for a second, before looking back at the road, "Yeah?"

"Keep going, and don't look back." Ruka ordered,"What?" Aki called over the wind.

Ruka stayed silent for a moment, looking out behind her, before replying, "Good-bye Aki. Make sure you fix everything."

Before Aki could respond, Ruka stood up and jumped off the back of the D-Wheel, tumbling to the ground behind them.

"RUKA!" Aki screamed,

"KEEP GOING!" Ruka yelled, forcing herself up.

…She had physic powers too… though they were not as strong as Aki's… they had sent her to the Dominion of the Beast twice already. Maybe they could help here too?

Ruka turned around to face them, activating her Duel Disk, and closed her eyes, focusing as hard as she could…

Suddenly, large trees burst out of the cement behind her, blocking the road. She held her arms out as if guarding the road, as the Officers slowed to a stop in front of her.

"If you want them, you'll have to go through me!" Ruka promised,

"Get out of the way woman!" One shouted.

"Make me!" She retorted.

Several of them activated their Duel Disks. One if them turned to the others and said, "Find another way around. Seven against one, this girl is history!"

Ruka was shaking all over. But she stayed determined and ready. She pulled her hand from her deck, 'Let's Duel!"

… … …

"Where are we going?" Aki shouted over the wind and the roar of the engine.

"I don't know…" Yusei replied, to quiet for her to hear. And he meant it. Where were they going to go? How were they going to stop Kako?

Just then, a D-Wheel burst out of the street beside them and whipped in front of them. Yusei slammed on the breaks, twisting the D-Wheel sideways. He came to a stop right beside the person who cut them off. Aki managed to stop shortly behind them.

"Yusei!" Jack panted.

"Jack!" Aki gasped, "Y-Your covered in blood! What happened?"

Yusei said nothing, but looked from Jack to Aki silently. Jack lowered his head and said nothing as well. After a few seconds, Yusei sighed, "Its not safe here."

Jack nodded, "No. But I know somewhere that is. Follow me."

Yusei looked back at Aki, and the rose-duellist nodded.

"What about Ruka?" Yusei asked, "We can't leave her behind."

"I'll go." Aki promised, "You two go ahead. Where can I find you?"

"Yusei's old hideout." Jack promised,

"I have an old hideout?" Yusei asked,

"Never mind." Jack snapped, "Leave your communications on your D-Wheel open. There is something I need to talk to you about. And make it fast, we don't have much time."

Aki nodded, "I'll hurry, and I will come back with Ruka."

"Be safe." Yusei begged.

Aki nodded, turned the D-Wheel around, and raced off back the way she had come, disappearing down the dark street. Jack turned back to his D-Wheel, "Like I said, we don't have much time. Follow me." He took off dashing down a nearby alleyway - Yusei racing at his heels.

… … …

Yusei had never seen this part of town that Jack led him too, but for some reason, he felt as if he knew it by heart. He felt like he had so much history here, though he could not label one memory he had coming down this road.

Jack lead them down towards an old subway station entrance, and he raced his D-Wheel down into the tunnel. Yusei gritted his teeth. He did not have much practice racing his D-Wheel off-road…and had never drove downstairs before. Wasn't that dangerous? He fought down his fears and followed Jack down, fighting the entire time to keep his eyes from squeezing shut.

Somehow, the D-Wheel touched down on the cracked cement below without any problems. Yusei could barely contain the excitement he felt. The adrenaline was racing through his system, blocking everything but the rush of the wind out of his mind. It felt nice for a moment to forget about all his pain and suffering. Jack did not give him a moment to enjoy his 'victory-over-the-stairs' though, because the blond haired Duellist raced off onto the train tracks, and into the tunnel. Yusei stood there for a moment, bracing the D-Wheel up with one leg, and did not realize he was gaping. Fighting down his fear, he raced the D-Wheel into the tunnel, which nearly flipped over when he dropped down from the platform, and raced after Jack.

The tunnel was dark, with nothing but the lights from the D-Wheel lighting their way. Jack looked briefly over his shoulder and saw Yusei was still following him. Good. He turned back to the road ahead. No one had cleared out the tunnel yet. The old Yusei must have when he was building his D-Wheels down here…

It was hard to navigate through, but they finally reached a clear section, and Jack was able to press down on the throttle… they did not have much time to waste…

The screen on his D-Wheel flashed, causing Jack to look down. Maybe Aki had already found Ruka? But much to his dismay, it wasn't Ruka or Aki looking back at him, but Kako.

"Ten minutes has passed Jack… a quarter of the time is up. Twenty more minutes to go Jackie! I hope you've made up your mind!"

And the screen went dark again. Jack swore. Had ten minutes really came and went?

He pulled the D-Wheel up to the second platform, and stopped, climbing off to climb up onto the rock.

There was nothing there. No hide out, no old friends of Yusei's, nothing. Jack did not know whether to be excited or worried. He stood there awkwardly, waiting for Yusei to catch up. Finally, the dark haired Duellist arrived, and climbed off his D-Wheel, looking shaken up. Jack fought back from laughing. This was the first time he had ever seen Yusei look like this.

"So… what now?" Yusei asked,

"I don't know…" Jack muttered worriedly, "I just don't know."

NEXT TIME:

Aki went back to get Ruka, but it looks like someone else got there first. Jack and Yusei are waiting at the old 'hideout', but with only twenty minutes remaining, will Jack be willing to wait for Aki to return? Will he choose to help Yusei, or save 'his kids'? And finally: Rua and Antinomy make the scene! Will their arrival save the day, or ruin everything?

Find out next time in:

Chapter 22: The Best Place

As always! Thank you for reading and please leave a review! I love getting reviews, and they encourage me to write the next chapter as fast as I can!

This time, you have no one to blame but Ry for making me late to post. Its his fault for distracting me! Lol! We're getting closer and closer to the official release date, and we're still working on storyline… the moment he posts the official release poster, I will give you all information on Araes. Till then, I can't say anymore! Sorry!